MAYOR of London, Sadiq Khan, has today launched his ‘landmark fair-priced’ green energy company available exclusively to Londoners.
Just over 1,000 Londoners have already registered their interest with ‘London Power’, a first of its kind initiative for the capital.
Mr Khan, who has become one of the company’s first customers, commented on the news: “It is a disgrace that many Londoners pay too much to heat and light their homes, with more than a million living in fuel poverty.
“That’s why I’ve launched London Power – to give all Londoners access to a better, fairer deal safe in the knowledge that they won’t be automatically switched to a rip-off tariff when their contract ends.
“London Power is a different kind of energy company. For the first time we have a fair, affordable, green energy company specially designed for Londoners.”
Every year Londoners spend an estimated £3.5bn on gas and electricity household bills.
According to Ofgem, London has the one of the lowest levels of switching energy supplier and one of the highest levels of pre-payment meters in the UK, leading to higher prices and less access to good deals.
According to the information released by the Mayor’s Office, the average household paying by direct debit could save ‘around £300 a year’ by switching to London Power, and ‘the average pre-payment customer could save £160.’
More than one in 10 London households – more than a million people – are living in fuel poverty, the highest number since records began.
Newham has the highest level of fuel poverty in England and six other London boroughs (Brent, Waltham Forest, Haringey, Redbridge, Ealing and Harrow) are in the worst 10 per cent.
Adam Scorer, CEO National Energy Action, added: “We need to use every opportunity to combat fuel poverty in London. It’s great to see another important development in the Mayor’s fuel poverty strategy.”
London Power states it will offer fairer prices to all Londoners, helping struggling households – particularly those in fuel poverty – by including:
- A ‘competitively priced’ 12-month fixed tariff – my london fixed yearly plan – which will typically be within the cheapest 10 per cent of similar tariffs available in the market. It is estimated that the plan could save the average London household ‘around £300 a year’ if they switch;
- For pre-payment customers, the my london top-up plan ‘will always be cheaper than the price cap.’ Today this is in the top three cheapest pre-payment tariffs in the market, at 14 per cent below the price cap;
- No exit fees for either plan, ‘unlike most large suppliers’;
- A roll-over onto the cheapest similar tariff at the time a customer’s contract ends. This means customers will not be moved onto an expensive variable tariff at the end of their contract and instead will remain on the cheapest similar plan – once their contract has expired, protecting them from unfair price hikes.
Any profits that City Hall makes will be reinvested into community projects helping Londoners living in fuel poverty, working to tackle the climate emergency and striving to achieve the Mayor’s ambitious target of making London a zero-carbon city.
The electricity will be generated from 100 per cent renewable sources, such as the sun, wind and water.
London Power is a landmark partnership between the Mayor and Octopus Energy, the only ‘Which?’ recommended energy supplier in the UK, who will provide their customer service expertise.
Stuart Jackson, Co-Founder and CFO of Octopus Energy, commented on the new partnership: “Octopus Energy has been at the forefront of affordable, fairly priced green energy since our inception four years ago.
“We couldn’t be happier to launch London Power in partnership with the Mayor, to offer Londoners a good deal on planet-friendly power and to reinvest City Hall’s profits into community projects aimed at creating a more carbon neutral city.”
The partnership is part of the Mayor’s Energy for Londoners programme, which aims to make London’s homes warm, healthy and affordable, its workplaces more energy efficient, and to supply the capital with more local clean energy.
Nina Skorupska, CEO of Renewable Energy Association, said: “London Power embodies the future of energy companies in the UK; localised, affordable and 100% renewable.
“The interest already shown demonstrates the growing appetite amongst consumers to feel a personalised connection to their energy, knowing where it comes from and who it is benefitting.
“By adopting this model, City Hall has shown themselves to be one of the pioneers in the move towards a Net Zero UK.”
For more information about London Power, visit here.
